xv, 224 pages : 23 cm

"Heinz Linge worked with Adolf Hitler for a ten-year period from 1935 until the Führer's death in the Berlin bunker in May 1945. He was one of the last to leave the bunker and was responsible for guarding the door while Hitler killed himself. During his years of service, Linge was responsible for all aspects of Hitler's household and was constantly by his side. He claims that only Eva Braun stood closer to Hitler over these years. Here, Linge recounts the daily routine in Hitler's household: his eating habits, his foibles, his preferences, his sense of humor, and his private life with Eva Braun. In fact, Linge believed Hitler's closest companion was his dog Blondi. After the war Linge said in an interview, "It was easier for him to sign a death warrant for an officer on the front than to swallow bad news about the health of his dog." Linge also charts the changes in Hitler's character during their time together and his fading health during the last years of the war. During his last days, Hitler's right eye began to hurt intensely and Linge was responsible for administering cocaine drops to kill the pain. In a number of instances--such as with the Stauffenberg bomb plot of July 1944--Linge gives an excellent eyewitness account of events. He also gives thumbnail profiles of the prominent members of Hitler's "court": Hess, Speer, Bormann and Ribbentrop amongst them. Though Linge held an SS rank, he claims not to have been a Nazi Party member. His profile of one of history's worst demons is not blindly uncritical, but it is nonetheless affectionate. The Hitler that emerges is a multi-faceted individual: unpredictable and demanding, but not of an otherwise unpleasant nature."--Publisher's website

Translation of: Biz zum Untergang. München : Herbig, 1980

Includes bibliographical references and index

I join Hitler's staff : Elser, the admired assassin -- Hitler the architect -- Hitler on diet and the evils of smoking -- Evan Braun, the question of sexual morality, and equestrian pursuits -- The Berghof -- The Reich Chancellery, Bayreuth, the aristocracy, and protocol -- Hitler's speeches and the problem of Göring -- Goebbels : the giant in a dwarf's body -- Himmler and Bormann -- Mess's mysterious mission : was Hitler behind it? -- Other leading personalities and the eternal stomach problem -- Resolving the Polish question : September 1939 -- The phoney war -- The invasion in the West, 1940 -- The assassination attempt of 1944 and its aftermath -- 1945 : the last months of the Third Reich : reflections on Russia -- Hitler's suicide -- I flee the Reich Chancellery : Russian captivity

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